The Breakfast Club (Festa na Roça)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:30am (ET) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

AP’s Today in History for August 7th

U.S. embassies bombed in E. Africa; Congress OKs powers to expand the Vietnam War; The Battle of Guadalcanal begins; Kon-Tiki ends its journey; Comedy icon Oliver Hardy and news anchor Peter Jennings die.

Breakfast Tune Festa na Roça – Mario Zan – Bluegrass style – Folk Brazilian Music – Banjo 5 string

Something to Think about, Breakfast News & Blogs Below

 
‘Drones playbook’ shows key role played by White House staff in deadly strikes
Spencer Ackerman, The Guardian

The White House staff for national security, exempt from review by Congress, plays a substantial role in the process for killing suspected terrorists, according to a newly released document on drone strikes.
…
The document designates the National Security Council (NSC) staff as a body of review over “all operational plans” for either killing or capturing terrorist subjects. Once representatives of various cabinet agencies and departments meet to discuss a specific plan, NSC attorneys provide legal input.

Those operational plans, which are conceived by the CIA or the Pentagon and not the NSC staff, provide granular details about life-or-death decision-making and are a level above the specific people or categories of people targeted for death or capture. While the NSC staff plays a role in nominating people for inclusion on the so-called “kill list”, it neither makes the nomination nor involves itself in carrying out a strike or raid. …

 
Will Italy be Europe’s next casualty as Renzi risks all on referendum?
Stephanie Kirchgaessner, The Guardian

…Today the future looks considerably less bright, and less assured, for the former mayor of Florence. In a few months, probably in November, Italians will head to the polls to vote in a referendum on a constitutional reform that Renzi says will make it easier to pass legislation by dramatically restricting the powers of the senate, a major source of political gridlock.
…
Much like Brexit in the UK, the referendum is increasingly being seen as a way for Italians to air their general discontent with the establishment, in large part because Renzi swore that he would leave politics if the referendum did not go his way. If he loses his gamble, the results of the referendum could have vast consequences for Italy and the whole of Europe. A defeat could potentially open the door to a new national election that could see the Eurosceptic, populist Five Star Movement push the Democratic party out of power.

“I think, as with every referendum, the Italian constitutional referendum will not only be fought over the substance of the legislation, but a whole number of issues will come to play, and one of those will be the banking crisis,” said Vincenzo Scarpetta, a political analyst with Open Europe. …

 
Militants linked to Isis claim they confiscated US weapons in Afghanistan
Reuters in Kabul

Militants linked to Islamic State have released photos that purport to show weapons and equipment that belonged to US soldiers and were captured by the group in eastern Afghanistan.

The photos, which came to light on Saturday, show an American portable rocket launcher, radio, grenades and other gear not commonly used by Afghan troops, as well as close up views of identification cards for a US army soldier, specialist Ryan Larson.

The US military command in Kabul denied any suggestion the soldier had been captured, saying he “has been accounted for and remains in a duty status within his unit”. …

• We finally found out what will get a cop fired — and you won’t believe what it is
  Tom Boggioni

• LAPD Officers Claim They’re Being Discriminated Against For Shooting An Unarmed Black Man
  Carimah Townes

• The Uncertain Future and the American Election
  Ian Welsh

• Chicken Factory Owners Are Some of the Cruelest Employers in America: Workers Share Horror Stories as Campaign Builds to Fight Exploitation
  Michael Arria

• Labor Department Finds Evidence Microsoft Discriminated Against Female Employees
  Lauren C. Williams

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

Somebody that I used to know – Gotye WOTE Parody. Banjo adaptation

Published on Jun 27, 2012
Inspired by the Walk off the earth version, this video tells the incredibly sad but true tale of the eternal struggle between man, wife and banjo. The banjo in this story (a Deering Senator) came to an untimely end at the hands of an insanely annoyed spouse equipped with a large hammer. …